New School for Drama directing student Sherri Eden Barber, class of 2009, has been accepted into the summer directing program of the prestigious Drama League Directors Project. The Program is a unique opportunity for early-career directors to "take charge" of a theatre where they are responsible for selecting, designing, casting, and producing the summer season for the Hangar Theatre’s Lab Company, a non-Equity company comprised of actors, designers, assistants and stage managers, in Ithaca, New York. The season provides the directors with three productions: a main stage children's show and two plays of their choice produced in the Lab Company's own performance space, the Wedge. One of these choices will be a new play, giving each director the opportunity to collaborate with a playwright-in-residence.

“I came to The New School for Drama because of the program in company building and new works collaboration,” remarks Barber. “Now putting what I learned into action is the next step. I’m ready to put my training to work with another community that inspires creative collaboration, and to help build a company of actors and direct in an environment dedicated to pushing towards challenges and taking chances to hear new voices.”

Of the hundreds of nationwide applicants, Barber is one of only four directors selected for the program. The application process is intense: one must select a play to write about in terms of character and design, and then develop a statement of purpose and personal essay. If chosen, the next step is an interview with a panel of professional and well respected directors, and the executive director and the artistic director of the Drama League.

“I am extremely grateful for the education I received at Drama,” Barber notes, “and feel it played a crucial role in helping me develop the necessary skills needed to succeed in this fellowship— this is what I want to do with my life.”